Google recently announced a new feature called Undo Send, and Gmail users are rejoicing. It was once relegated to the mysterious domain of power users and enthusiastic beta testers known as Gmail Labs. This week, Gmail brings its once-experimental unsend feature to the masses.

What does Undo Send do?

It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like, albeit with  one major caveat – you only have a very small window of time (ten seconds by default) to hit the undo send button before it’s too late. To enable this merciful feature, just navigate to the ‘General’ tab of your Gmail settings and check the box next to ‘Undo Send.’ You might as well extend the wait period to the maximum thirty-second window while you’re at it.

So whether you find yourself sending a late-night, wine-influenced essay to an ex, accidentally hitting reply-all in the email chain, or noticing five seconds too late that you used “your” instead of “you’re” when asking your English professor for an extension on that final paper, rest easy knowing that Gmail has got your back.

What this could mean for your email marketing

Unless you’re sending marketing emails directly through Gmail (and if you are, tsk tsk), then not a whole lot. But, it does highlight a best practice for email marketers everywhere, and that is to always test your email before sending. That way, you can catch every typo and error, before someone on your list does it for you.

Sending yourself test emails is one of the many benefits of using an email service provider to market your business. VerticalResponse lets you send tests, pick from dozens of professional-looking email templates, and track all your opens, clicks and shares in real time after you send. Sign up for your free account today.

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